independence – self-determination – autonomy

‘Ravachol’ Trailer

Here’s a railer for Bernard Cerf’s provocative French film on ‘Ravachol’ (with thanks to Stuart Christie). It’s a melange of documentary and fiction on the theme of political violence and includes interviews with Jean-Marc Rouillan (a founder of Action Directe); Yves Peirat, organiser of the Franc-Tireur Partisan (FTP) action against the National Front premises in Marseilles, and Ali Kaya, CGT secretary at Flins Renault Factory.

‘Paris, March 28 1892: ‘Ravachol, alias Léon Léger, anarchist expropriator and dynamiter, was arrested in Paris at the Very Restaurant, 22 Boulevard Magenta, for blowing up the homes of Benoit, a judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal, and Bulot, the Deputy Prosecutor of the Republic. Sentenced to death for the murder of a rich beggar, “the Hermit of Chambles”, he climbed the scaffold singing, at the top of his voice, the anti-clerical song “Pere Duchene”.’ From: ‘The Art of Anarchy’ by Flavio Costantini, Cienfuegos Press, 1975.